


Picture

by CrystalQueer



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: But the baby isnt actually dead !!! No one dies, F/M, Fluff, Idk if that upsets ppl tho so theres ur warning, Mal doesnt know how babies work, Theres a tiny bit of sadness in there, Theres like mention of a baby dying, also th joke at the end is kinda stupid but, idk what to tag this, im so proud of it tbh i thought it was funny, its fluff, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 07:57:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12054663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalQueer/pseuds/CrystalQueer
Summary: Mal and Ben are out on a walk when they're stopped by a woman who politely asks if they'll take a picture with her son, Ben agrees before Mal can speak up, and Mal ends up holding the baby.--(I'm not great at summaries I gotta practice, but the fic is actually good nd cute!)





	Picture

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first descendants fic. Technically. I have like 2 more in the drafts that I haven't finished :/ 
> 
> But !! I want to give a huge thanks to two of the people in my descendants discord server for giving me the idea to write this! It was pretty fun to write ^^
> 
> My main tumblr is @lunaecilsped  
> My descendants tumblr is @evieandlovingit
> 
> Hope you enjoy ^^ please leave a comment if you like it !

Mal and Ben were out on a walk through town on a lovely saturday afternoon. She didn’t have school and it was a rare day that Ben didn’t have any kingly duties (™) so they had ample free time to spend together.

Currently, they were on their way to go get something to eat for lunch. Or at least that was the plan until they were interrupted.

A woman, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties (or some other age, Mal wasn’t good at figuring out how old people were based on how they looked) approached. She was holding a baby that couldn’t have been older than a year old. The woman gave a respectful curtsy, as one was supposed to do when approaching the king and his girlfriend.

“Your majesty, my lady, could you spare a minute to take a picture with my son?” she asked, shifting her aforementioned son.

Mal wasn’t sure if she should agree or not. She didn’t like children and wasn’t good with them, she didn’t want to risk accidentally dropping this baby. Before she could speak up, Ben did.

He smiled his easy, charming smile. “Of course.” he said. The woman smiled and handed the baby to Mal.

Mal froze and gingerly cradled the baby in her arms. Ben put his arm over her shoulders and she wished he was instead holding the baby.

The woman messed with her phone for a moment before saying, “smile!” and taking the picture. Mal and Ben smiled, of course.

After a couple pictures had been taken, the woman came back over. “I can’t wait to send this to my sister, she’ll be so jealous.” she said with a smile.

Ben gave a polite laugh and, ever the conversationalist, asked the woman about her sister and asked about the baby, his name, his age, etc. while Mal continued to hold the child uncomfortably.

After a few minutes of barely listening to the conversation, Mal had learned a few things. The baby’s name was Sebastian, he was nine months old, and she had no clue what to do with children.

She looked down at the baby- Sebastian -and realized something. He was somewhat still and his eyes were closed a _nd was he dead?!_

Her eyes widened and suddenly she was panicking because she had killed a child just by holding it. Ben must have noticed something was wrong because he asked, “are you okay?” and the woman, whose name was something like Susanna (Mal really hadn't been paying attention, but Susanna seemed right), went quiet and looked at Mal with concern.

“I-I killed I-, he-.” Mal stuttered softly, she felt like she was going to cry.

Correction. She was crying.

No matter what, she was her mother’s daughter and she had killed a child just by holding it.

“What?!” Ben exclaimed, sounding shocked.

Susanna swiftly took Sebastian from Mal’s arms and looked him over with concern, and then she relaxed visibly, and gave a relieved laugh.

Mal startled at the sound. “Why are you laughing?” she demanded. “I killed him, I’m terrible, I-”

Ben must’ve caught on. “He’s not dead, Mal.” he said, his voice gentle and reassuring.

Susanna smiled softly and reached out with her free hand to touch Mal’s arm. “He’s not dead, honey, he’s just asleep, see?” she said, shifting closer to show Mal that indeed, the baby was only sleeping, his chest rose and fell with soft breaths.

“Oh!” Mal exclaimed, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “I- he was so still, I-I thought he was dead or that I hurt him, or-” she stopped herself. “I’m sorry.”

It had been months since she had lived on the Isle (if you didn’t count the three days she lived there after running away from Auradon) but it still clearly affected her. She was so worried about being the Good Auradon Princess people expected her to be that she panicked when she messed up even slightly. And it wasn’t like she had handled a baby before, how was she supposed to know he was just asleep?

Susanna kept smiling. “Don’t worry dear, it’s okay, he’s fine, see? He isn’t hurt, he’s just sleeping. You don’t need to worry.” she spoke with a calm, soothing voice.

“It’s okay Mal,” Ben said, squeezing her shoulders lightly.

She started to relax slightly and sughed. “Right, I’m so sorry I reacted like that I just, I just don’t have much experience with children and-”

“It’s okay dear,” Susanna said. “I understand.”

Mal reached up to wipe the tears off her cheeks and then she smiled a shaky smile. “But uhm, your son, Sebastian, he’s really cute.” she paused. “And how did he manage to not wake up during that brief commotion?”

Susanna laughed softly. “He’s a sound sleeper.” she replied.

“Well, it was nice meeting you two, but I think Mal and I should be on our way,” Ben interjected kindly.

“Oh, have a good day, and thank you for stopping to take a picture with my boy!” Susanna said.

“You are very welcome,” Ben replied.

“Bye!” Mal said, her smile more genuine now.

His arm still around her shoulders, Ben gently guided Mal away and they continued on their way down the sidewalk. After a minute Mal said, “she was nice.”

“Yeah, she was.” Ben replied. Neither of them brought up Mal’s little freakout.

“What was her name again?” Mal asked.

“Sarah.” Ben answered. “Why?”

“Oh uh,” she paused. “no reason.”


End file.
